


It's Golden (Like Daylight)

by nowiamyourdaisy



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Smut, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Bondage, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:33:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27348952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowiamyourdaisy/pseuds/nowiamyourdaisy
Summary: AU where Louis is the manager of a pittoresque inn just outside of Manchester and has issues dealing with his past, Harry is new in town, Zayn, Niall and Liam are the friends that anyone would wish for (almost always true).Disclaimer: this work is not related to real life nor with the people that are mentioned in it.owned by @nowiamyourdaisy
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne, Zayn Malik/Louis Tomlinson
Kudos: 3





	It's Golden (Like Daylight)

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been translated by @itstydias from Italian. 
> 
> Some important points to keep in mind before reading:  
> 1\. Louis has anxiety issues caused by the loss of a family member. Please be careful if you can be triggered by this in any way.  
> 2\. Louis’ character is very personal to me. Some of his personality traits are inspired by Lorelai from ‘Gilmore Girls’.  
> 3\. I have been working on this story since September 2019. You can find the Italian version on Wattpad.  
> 4\. The title of the story is from Taylor Swift’s song ‘Daylight’ which is also the soundtrack. The lyrics represent the growth of the main character. Therefore you should go and listen to this song.

Louis has never been a morning guy.

This trait of his had genetic roots and it often brought him several mental issues. When he was on vacation back home, he wouldn’t mind the impetuous wake ups, the continuous crying and the jumping mattress caused by his siblings. But when he was back in Manchester everything was more like “nothing is interesting before noon.”

This is why you absolutely could not say that he was a kind and understanding guy, when during his time off from work he was being woken up at seven in the morning by a constant drilling noise.

After his third attempt to go back to sleep, he opened his eyes with a disappointed grunt, noticing that the light that was coming through the shutters was so faint that it couldn't have been past 9 in the morning. Pushing away the duvet, he got up, wore his robe, and got out of his room heading towards the living room.

“That’s enough!” he muttered while Zayn, quietly sitting on the sofa and sipping his tea, was looking at him quite confused.

“What’s wrong?” asked a puzzled Zayn, whose long eyelashes were casting a shadow on his cheekbones making him even more fascinating.

“What’s wrong?” a shocked Louis asked throwing his hands in the air as if he landed in a parallel universe where everyone had lost their mind. “It has been _one week_ Zayn. A fucking week of putting up with this chaos. You know I’m a light sleeper, and that I can’t sleep if there is a fucking drill constantly going on. You also know how grumpy I get if I don’t sleep. This building is a madhouse, they closed mental institutions and people have been sent to live here in this very crumbling building!”

Zayn blinked and remained silent for a moment.

“You are such a drama queen Lou! They are the new neighbours, who just transferred here in Miss Kenton’s apartment since she moved to London, and they are doing some renovations. I kind of understand them, who knows how much maintenance that apartment needs, it was full of mould.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Did I ask you who is making this noise by any chance? Did I give you the impression that I care about Miss Keaton’s apartment? Or that I absolutely care about who is living there now?”  
Zayn was looking at him like he was crazy. “I’m going to press charges due to noise pollution, I’m going to call the police!”

“It’s past nine.” Zayn tried to patiently explain to his friend. “If anything, they would arrest you.”

“I would just like to get some rest, for God’s sake! I work everyday, is it too much to ask for some silence? We can’t keep going on like this, I want to move! That’s it, pack your things. We’re leaving.”

Zayn remained quiet, and then “Okay.”

“I’m serious Zayn, get the fuck up from that sofa!”

“Alright.”

“Aaaah!” yelled Louis leaving the room, just to come back seconds after with a pair of unicorn shaped slippers.

“Where are you going?” asked Zayn following him with his eyes. Louis didn’t answer, but he slammed the door with such force that the painting above the armchair trembled.

Zayn’s tea was still steaming.

***

“Fucking elevator, fucking building, fucking neighbours!” muttered Louis out loud after trying to take the elevator. He waited like a fucking idiot for more than five minutes, until the red light that was signalling the elevator was coming became green under his shocked and annoyed gaze. He took the stairs instead and reached the above floor going directly towards the apartment that had the door ajar and from where all the noise was coming. He knocked but didn’t receive an answer. Then he decided to open the door himself a few moments later when he heard laughter and voices coming from inside. He didn’t care about it being a private property and went inside.

When he entered, the first thing he saw was a wall covered with newspaper pages, two guys painting a wall in a horrible peach colour, whereas another boy was hoovering above a piece of furniture drilling while wearing a ridiculous yellow helmet.

Louis was overwhelmed with a flash of anger, and he quickly considered Agnes’ advice of talking with an expert about the fits of anger he was having more and more frequently.

“Stop it, stop it, _STOP IT!_ ” Louis started screaming like he was crazy. The two guys that were painting startled and turned around frightened. Yellow helmet instead lost the grip on the drill which fell on the floor with a loud thud. In order to avoid any tragedy, one of the two guys reached to pull the plug and turned off the drill.

“What the fuck?!” yellow helmet bursted under the gaze of the other two boys. One was blonde with blue eyes and chubby cheeks, whereas the other had big shoulders, a shaved beard and chestnut brown hair. The drilling guy removed his helmet releasing a handful of curls that fell on his shoulders. Louis stared at him noticing his deep green eyes, the squared jaw and his sharp-cornered nose. Louis’ stunning gaze lasted for no longer than twenty seconds before the rage took a hold of him again, being again the only thing that Louis was feeling in that moment.

“Are you aware of the noise that you are generating lad? You are always fucking drilling and moving furniture around! People aren’t able to sleep anymore!”

Curly looked at him confused for a moment, then looking quickly at the clock that was hanging on the wall, turned to Louis.

“We started the renovation work only one week ago, and we’re almost finished. We had to increase the working time to avoid making it last too long.” He replied annoyed. After a second of silence, he added “and honestly I don’t think you have any right to complain. We’re allowed to work at this hour. For the law, we aren’t doing anything illegal.”

Before literally attacking the guy, one of the other guys put his hand on curly’s shoulder turning to look at Louis with a regretful gaze. “We’re really sorry. We didn’t have any intention to create any inconvenience to you or to the other neighbours. We are trying to end the renovations before the colder months get here, and we need to move in as soon as possible.”

Louis crossed his arms looking suspiciously at the guy. “I understand. But you can’t keep disturbing day and night.”

“Night? We aren’t even here during the night!” answered now ex-yellow helmet.

His friend looked at him full of hope. Curly muttered something annoying Louis even more, who looked at him like he was crazy.

“I don’t care how, but make that thing stop making noise or the next time that you will be using it will be to repair your door after I took it down.”

“Oh, and you think you’ll do that wearing those?” curly said pointing at his slippers. Louis looked at him outraged.

“Harry.” Said the blonde guy, who was quiet until then observing what was going on there. He moved closer to Louis “We’ll try to be more quiet.”

“I sure hope so!” Concluded Louis staring at the guy who was still with his arms crossed in a hostile way.

Louis then left the apartment in a theatrical way, making his silky robe flutter and slamming the door on his way out. And okay, maybe keeping a good relationship with the neighbours was important, but for Louis, being able to have a good rest was more important.

***

Louis slept like a baby.

The next day he woke up at past eleven in the morning, with the warm duvet wrapping his body, and the shutters were filtering a lunch time kind of light. He grinned thinking that the only noise he could hear was the usual one coming from the other neighbours, like walking around the house or dropping something occasionally.

The quiet atmosphere allowed Louis to relax, prepare a cup of tea and eat a piece of the pie that Zayn bought to make him eat something that felt like food.  
Even if his vacation would not end until Monday, Louis decided to still get his computer and check that everything was organized for the wedding that was set to take place in one week at the inn he was working at as the manager. Nothing could go wrong considering that the clients were some wealthy Russians, who he needed to please to keep them as his clients.

Louis was anxious not because of the organization part of the event, but because of the kitchen, which was his current nightmare: he and his assistant, Sam, had organized everything down to the smallest detail, but the kitchen was left without a chef after Melanie decided to leave the job due to her unexpected pregnancy. There were tears and hugs during the goodbye party, but Louis’ tears were more due to being desperate than sad.

Now everyone was waiting for the new chef. All the candidates that passed the first rounds of interviews were a fail in the end, and Agnes (the owner of the inn) did not make it easy to find a new one. When Louis convinced himself to take some vacation from the inn, they hadn't found a chef yet. Three days in his vacation though, Sam called him as happy as ever to tell him that Agnes finally decided to put in a trial period a young chef.

Now the event was imminent and the bride had specifically asked for the ornaments to be all flowers, with lavender as the main star, and that each table be named after Provence towns. Louis had decided to entrust some of the work to Sam, originally from France, hoping that he would come up with some good ideas. The truth was that he wasn’t good at delegating (and he was a perfectionist), which led him to not trust his assistant’s abilities.

Not that he didn’t trust him in general.

Immersed in his thoughts, he didn’t hear the doorbell ring, and when it did for the second time, he jumped off the sofa and annoyed he removed his glasses rubbing his eyes to hide away his tiredness. With a quick glance at the clock he saw that it was past five in the afternoon, realizing that he had spend the day working even if he was supposed to be on vacation.

Maybe Zayn was right when he kept saying that he had a problem.

When he heard the doorbell ring again, he was already opening the door, noticing his new neighbours on the other side. The three guys were standing in front of him: the blonde was in the middle with a wide smile on his face, then there were the other two, including the curly haired one who was looking at him angrily, his green eyes glowing. Louis cleared his throat before speaking.

“Uhm, yes?”

“I think we started with the wrong foot. Manchester is big, but this doesn’t mean that we should start making enemies right?” the blonde guy said, with a hopeful look. Louis started smiling, but before being able to agree with him, curly hair had to intervene.

“I don’t agree.”

“ _Harry_.” the other guy admonished him, and Harry rolled his eyes.

Harry, then. Good to know.

Louis moved his gaze from Harry to the guy who spoke last, and then to the blonde guy who started speaking again.

“Erm, yes. We were thinking to start all over if you want?” he asked full of hope. “I’m Niall, this is Harry as you already know, and this is Liam.”

“Louis” his gaze fixed on Harry who had his head turned away from him, not giving Louis the satisfaction of looking at him.

“Uhm, we brought you some cookies to apologize for the noise that we made during the past days. We didn't realize that our remodelling would cause so much irritation. And considering that we still have some work to do, we would like to agree upon a timetable.”

“Cookies?” Louis remained still, with his hand on the door handle and a confused expression. Harry snorted, and in that moment, Louis noticed his pretty pink mouth, thinking how he didn’t notice it the day before. Weird.

“Harry made them.” Niall said. Louis took the tray and a perfume invaded his nostrils making his stomach growl.

“Thank you.” Louis knew that he was exaggerating due to his anger attacks which didn't allow him to think properly. However, his pride didn’t allow him to say that he was sorry or to admit that he was wrong. Not even in front of these boys that were extremely sorry about the trouble they caused.

Well at least two out of three of them.

“So… can we talk about it then? About the hours in which we could keep remodelling without bothering you?” Niall asked, and Louis nodded.

“Of course, now I have some things to do but when I have a moment, I’ll let you know.”

His answer seemed to reassure the boys considering the big smile on Niall’s face. Then Niall left with Liam close behind, who waved him, and Harry who didn’t even look at him as he was leaving.  
Apparently, there was someone more proud and hostile than him.

***

The next day was pretty uneventful, with Zayn busy in a meeting with an important client at the gallery, and Louis working. After having lunch with one of his best friends, Stan, Louis spent his afternoon coordinating the tables for the upcoming wedding.  
He would sometimes call Sam, infuriating him quite a bit, to the point that he had to turn off his phone. After the fourth time trying to call Sam, Louis decided to stop working and started making a cup of tea. He was wondering how things were going with Zayn since it was a big opportunity for him. With that thought he decided to organize a celebratory dinner, not matter the outcome of the meeting.

As he was preparing his tea, Louis noticed the tray of cookies prepared by Harry. The day before, he was eyeing them with suspicion, with an amused Zayn observing him and trying to convince him to eat at least one. In the end he decided to ignore Zayn and go to his room far away from those cookies. But today he couldn’t resist the temptation as his mouth was watering only by looking at them. He was telling himself that, by tasting them, he was accepting their apology, and if they would have asked how the cookies were he couldn’t tell them that he didn't even taste them, absolutely not.

***

In the end, they agreed that the most reasonable hours for the remodelling were as stated by law, from 9am to 1pm and from 4pm to 7pm. Louis understood that they needed to work every available minute in order to avoid the apartment not being ready for the day that they had to move in. Louis was feeling better after he had the chance to explain to Niall and Liam why he had that reaction that first morning they met, and it did help a bit non having Harry in the house when they had the conversation. When he got home, he found Zayn in the kitchen cooking chicken with zucchini.

“The lost son returns home” said Zayn joking, without looking at Louis who opened the fridge to get a beer.

“God no, not biblical references please, my brain could explode.”

Zayn laughed “I though it would’ve been appropriate since you’ve had more drama in your life lately than that possessed Spanish girl.”

“You have stop referencing Veronica, that movie sucks.” said Louis with a grimace.

“You’re the one that keeps wanting to pay for Netflix, and I don’t understand why since you are always at work, and when you decide to watch a movie you always criticise it!”

Louis gestured his hand to end this conversation “Tomorrow I’m going back to work, Friday we have the Russian wedding and Agnes wants everything to be perfect. She decided to use this wedding as the trial period for the new chef that is supposed to substitute Mel. Which is kind of risky if I may say, but Agnes believes that if someone can’t work under pressure then it’s not a good sign. What can I tell you, maybe a bit extreme but the inn is hers.” Finished Louis with a scroll of his shoulders.

“I think it’s great Lou, we both know that this vacation would’ve been good for you if you had treated it as a chance to get some rest. Staying at home and working without being at the inn at the same time only stresses you more.”

Louis rolled his eyes and placed his beer on the counter, trying to release the tension by stretching his back. He almost didn't notice the two toned arms that surrounded his hips making his back hit Zayn’s chest. Zayn’s hand reached his nipple making Louis moan, while something warm and wet was touching his ear.

“Lately you’ve been distant, you’re stressed and nervous. Maybe I neglected you a bit with me being busy with the gallery?” asked Zayn with his low and hoarse voice. His breath warm on Louis’ bare neck, who let his head fall on Zayn’s shoulder giving him more access. Zayn was giving him small kisses on the neck and Louis closed his eyes enjoying them, when Zayn spoke again “do you want me to get some days off? We could go somewhere.” The question instantly woke up Louis, his eyes wide open while realizing what was happening. With a quick slap on his arm he moved away from Zayn’s embrace.

“Zayn…”

“What?”

Louis wanted to scream. They always ended up in this situation.

Louis and Zayn have known each other since forever. The fact that they spent their university years in a small apartment, sleeping in the same bed complicated their relationship a lot.

Louis considered Zayn his best friend, but he knew that it was a very broad term to define their relationship. A lot of times they ended up sleeping together, sometimes to fill some voids, others to forget about disappointments. Things never got better, because after it happened, Louis always felt inadequate. He spent a lot of time crying in a bed that smelled like them, asking himself what was so wrong with him that he could not feel something more for his best friend. He blamed himself because he knew that if he had loved Zayn as he loved him, maybe he could be happy.

The thing is that Louis loved Zayn. He had had a special place in his heart since the first moment, but he knew that Zayn deserved a different kind of love. Sex was great, yes. But Louis always woke up after either feeling sad or disgusted. Other times he woke up alone, with Zayn gone, and Louis missing him. He wasn't able to control all the mixed emotions that Zayn made him feel, and this is why he decided that he could not sleep with Zayn anymore.

But he wasn't always strong, sometimes he let himself go.

Since his beloved mom Judith passed away, Louis felt empty. Zayn has always been there, he never left Louis. He was there when the doctors diagnosed his mom’s illness, when he and Lottie had to explain everything to Daisy and Phoebe and their little brothers. He was there when his mom was taken away from him. With the support of his best friend and his family, Louis tried to remain strong, but he couldn’t. He hasn’t been the same since that day. He quit university and found a job that could fill his days. But still, his life felt empty, like nothing could help him feel alive again.

During the first months, he didn’t get out of the house, he didn't eat nor study. Zayn was the one taking care of him and his family as well, putting aside his own life to take care of Louis.

Two years have passed since then, and to some extent, Louis was able to pick up his life again. Even though he was still struggling a lot, with panic, anger and anxiety attacks. But Zayn has always been at his side, sometimes as a friend and others as someone that prevented him to go to a dark place. As time went on, Louis started to realize that their relationship was somewhat toxic, for both of them. He knew that in the long run this would destroy their friendship. Unless it already did.

Zayn didn't agree with Louis, and he would never lose Louis, this is why he had to be strong for both of them.

“I don’t think we should do this” said Louis taking another sip of his beer. Zayn looked at him without saying a word, then he went back to finish cooking.  
These were the moments when Louis was weak, when he had to turn off his brain and act without thinking. The thing was that he couldn’t turn Zayn down, he couldn’t make him believe that he did not want him, to the point of humiliating him. He would never.

He left the bottle on the counter and went to hug Zayn the same way he did before with Louis.

“You know that whatever you are thinking, that isn’t it.” Said Louis, with his face buried in Zayn’s sweater. He smelled like coffee and cigarettes a familiar scent that made Louis feel like screaming. Zayn didn’t move, holding the spoon he was using so hard that his knuckles became white. Louis removed his hand from the spoon and made him turn around. He looked at him, waiting for Zayn to do the same and when he finally did, Louis saw all the pain in his eyes. He moved closer to Zayn, making him walk backward until his back touched the counter. Their lips touched in a chaste kiss.

“Louis,” whispered Zayn. When Louis convinced himself that he was doing the right thing, and he wrapped his arms around Zayn’s neck deepening the kiss, the doorbell rang.

Louis interrupted the kiss, turning towards the door with a confused look, the magic was destroyed and reality hit him right in the face. He was starting to feel sick, and Zayn’s hands felt like burning his hips.

“Ignore it.” whispered Zayn, taking his lower lip in between his teeth. Louis gave in and for a moment he was almost convinced to take into consideration Zayn’s advice. When the doorbell rang again, Zayn removed himself from Louis and stormed towards the door highly irritated. When he opened the door, the last person that Louis would have imagined to ruin this moment was on the other side, Harry. From the kitchen, he noticed his messy hair, his red cheekbones and his eyes greener than ever. His red lips forming an adorable snort. Louis shook his head, getting back to reality.

Zayn looked at Harry with a puzzled face. “Can we help you?”

“I sure hope so.” replied Harry, irritated a bit as well. “I would like to have my plate back.”

“Your plate?” a confused Zayn asked him. Louis rolled his eyes, taking the plate and bringing it to the uninvited guest.

“As you wish” said Louis making fun of him, to which Harry responded with a death glare, taking the plate and going away without adding anything.

“You’re welcome, little kid.”

Harry froze with his foot on the first step of the stairs. When he turned around to look at Louis, the green in his eyes disappeared and his tone was anything but polite.

“Excuse me?”

“I said, you are welcome, little kid”

Louis was getting angrier and angrier.

“Do you have a problem mate?” asked Harry who moving towards Louis, almost collided onto his chest. His warm breath engulfed Louis’ face: it was sweet, it familiar and reassuring.

His stomach turned upside down, making him forget why Harry was so close to him.

“I think it’s you the one with a problem. You come here, pretending to have your plate back, without even saying a thank you. They don’t teach you manners where you come from?”

“Louis” said Zayn, touching his arm. Harry was still staring at him, he started to become all red on his neck as well, and it wasn’t due to the cold.

“I didn't hear you saying thank you for the cookies. You think you are in the position to teach me manners? You are the one who came into my house, demanding things, only because we were making some stupid noises. Maybe it’s you who doesn’t know manners. Didn’t your mother teach you how to behave with others?” That was the last drop that made Louis go crazy.

No one could talk about his mother. It took a second for the situation to turn around, Harry who was trying to be intimidating until a moment ago, was pushed by Louis on the wall behind him. His arm was on Harry’s throat, almost taking his breath away. Harry didn’t have the time to react and was starting to breath heavily.

“Louis!” Zayn ran towards them, trying to remove Louis’ arm from Harry’s throat. But it wasn't Zayn’s action that made Louis move away, it was Harry’s scared look that brought him back to reality, that made him move away from him.

Harry still breathing heavily, looked at Louis while fixing his hat, then without saying anything he took the stairs disappearing upstairs.

*


End file.
